More Than the World
by WorldofIllumination
Summary: Studying, dreaming, and James Potter with a twist of jealousy. What else is in for Lily's night?


I love James and Lily. 'Nuff said. :D

* * *

**More than the World**

_Merlin, I'm tired_, thought Lily. She tried to read the theory-filled pages in front of her, but the words blurred in front of her sight.

She yawned, mouth gaping wide open and probably showing some saliva. The little third year sitting near her scooted a little farther away. _And the five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration are..._

Lily shook herself awake. She had a patrol with James Potter tonight. For some unbeknownst reason, she did not want to miss it.

She racked her head. _C'mon, Lily, you prat, wake up!_

The last week had been hard on Lily. Patrols nearly every night, multiple loads of homework from professors that were hastily preparing for the N.E.W.T.s, and of course, the Hogwarts rumor mill – she heard them whispered in the corridors, before she walked into class... Just because she and James were Head Boy and Girl didn't mean they had any romantic connection, right? Their relationship was truly platonic.

After being unable to study due to a dramatic cat-fight between two hysterical fifth-years girls, and noisy games of Exploding Snap played by those aggravating Marauders (didn't they want to pass their N.E.W.T.s?), Lily decided to head off to the library, her one sanctuary. After all, where could you find trouble amidst bookworms and over-achievers? It was, thankfully, quiet and peaceful. But after a few long hours in cushy, warm chairs that were almost rivaled those in the Gryffindor common room...

Well, let's just say that it became slightly too much so.

_The five Principal Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transfiguration are..._ Lily tried again. _Oh, I'm going to miss patrol with James..._ And with that last _comforting_ thought, Lily Evans drifted off to sleep with _Transfiguration Today_ as her pillow.

* * *

The air was warm and nice. The gazebo was a gleaming white and the shores of the magnificent beach spread for miles. The rays of the sun glowed in a delicate light that tickled her face. Lily's hair swayed to the rhythm of the soft breeze and the bench swing. She could feel James's feathery hair brush her cheek.

_ Evans, _James whispered.

_ Evans. _Why did he keep saying her name? She pressed her mouth to his to silence him.

_James,_ she thought.

_ E-vans_. She heard it again, but this time, the first syllable of her surname was emphasized. It didn't come out of his mouth, since she'd made sure of that. Confused, she turned. The tantalizingly close voice spoke into her ear again.

_E-vans..._

_ James_, she thought again.

He was gone.

Lily woke up from her dream, groggily trying to open her eyes. Her back ached, and her arms were tired. She looked around the library. It was dark and empty, probably late into the night. Where was the sun, the beach, that fabulous gazebo? Where was James and his comforting arms?

"Evans..." The voice was familiar and a bit farther away, but still close. This time, it was real.

Did she just wake up from a dream with James Potter? She knew it was true, but the thought was still absurd.

"Evans, over here," said the voice impatiently. She spun around, looking for its owner, and successfully knocking a few of her textbooks off the table as well.

A few feet to her left, a hand appeared. Lily opened her mouth, ready to scream, until the hand silenced her. "Shh," someone hissed. "Do you want to wake up Pince?"

After she had reduced her panicked gasps down to erratic breathing, the hand retreated. It held onto an invisible substance and pulled. A mop of recognizable messy black hair that stuck up in all directions appeared, leading down to a tall boy with glasses. _James Potter_. Lily blushed, grateful for the darkness, remembering the dream, and how close they had been.

"Potter, when you talk to people, try not to scare them by taking off your rubbish invisibility cloak first," she whispered furiously, trying to cover up her embarrassment. Which was really quite useful, since he didn't know how humiliated she felt anyway.

"Ha, so I scared you, then, Evans? Glad you could feel something other than anger." Lily _humphed_, frustrated with the fact that her witty retorts were obviously losing their ground.

Next to James stood a small, albeit lovely, blonde girl. The Head Girl dimly identified her as Melanie Weyn, a sixth year Gryffindor. Although the only light came from the weak rays of the moon, her hair shined in a glossy tenor, and her features were aristocratic and illuminated. Her expression was also obnoxious.

Lily didn't like her.

Under normal circumstances, she would have greeted Melanie will a friendly "hello" (she was nice even to those she disliked, with the exception of James, of course – he just drove her insane), but these weren't normal circumstances. She had just woken up (from a particularly wonderful dream, but Lily would never admit that), she was in a bad mood, and this obnoxious girl was standing a little too close to James.

"What?" she snapped. "Don't you have anything better to do than to wake up innocent people from their sleep?"

The two ignored her barbed tone. "Hello, to you too, Lily," Melanie replied, amused. Lily grew even more annoyed with her.

James said, "We have patrol, Lily. Your friends said you went to the library to study, and after you never showed, we all figured you forgot – "

His condescending attitude did not make Lily laugh. "I didn't _forget_, Potter. I was studying, and I just fell asleep. _Some_ people work hard."

He grinned, unbothered. "Sure. Let's escort Mel – " he winked at the girl, who smirked back " – back to the common room, and then we can start our patrol. McGonagall will never notice. That's what you want, yeah?" He and his escort began striding toward the exit.

"Wait!" the redheaded girl struggled to gather all her belongings, then mentally slapped herself for forgetting that she was witch. With a flick of her wand, she grabbed her bag and chased after them. They were waiting at the doors with impatience.

"Shh," Melanie Weyn reminded her, while James nodded vigorously. "Madam Pince is in her office. Wouldn't want to get caught _not_ being so perfect, eh, Lily?" She murmured a quick "_Muffliato_" and pointed toward the said librarian's general direction. It was clear she'd had practice with charms to get herself out of trouble. "We've already silenced these doors. Let's go."

After James had given his prized cloak to the pretty blonde ("We're allowed to be out of this time, while Melanie – " another infuriating look " – will get detention" ) , and after she'd disappeared underneath, they headed off through the corridors.

The trio must have looked odd from a distance. (Although, admittedly, one of the three was unseen.) A tall, teenage boy with unruly hair with glasses, and a girl with dark, beautiful red hair, with a suspicious gap between them.

"Oh, Melanie, would you please hold my bag? I'm not supposed to be carrying it during our patrol..." Lily smiled sweetly toward the invisible girl's general direction and handed her bag, which, to a stranger, would have been thin air. A hand appeared to hold it, grunting at the unexpected weight.

"What do you keep in here, Peter's stash of cheese?" Lily could feel the other girl's glares, but she didn't mind. James just looked entertained.

"Undetectable Extension Charm. I take a lot of classes, and I like to carry a few extra books around," explained the redhead, beaming.

The boy on her left snorted. "Very modest, Evans. Subtly implying your own intelligence? You know it only exists in your head."

She rolled her eyes. "You just described your own world, Potter."

"Me? _My_ intelligence and talent doesn't just exist in my head – everyone else knows it too."

"See? That's just what I'm talking about! You just can't resist your _wonderful_ self, can you?"

"That's because there's nothing _not_ to resist!"

"That doesn't even make sense!"

"You just have a problem accepting the fact that you find me perfectly charming, Evans."

"And _you_ are an arse and a narcissist, did you know that, Potter?"

By this time, that suspicious gap that had conspicuously separated them was almost nonexistent. They'd also forgotten about the presence of Melanie Weyn, who called invisibly ahead of them, "_Shut up_, both of you!"

They broke apart immediately, not realizing how close they'd gotten. Lily huffed, internally, trying not to let her frustration show. But James, easily reading her emotions, and quickly recovering from anger (...or never really angry in the first place), seemed only to find her vexation amusing.

Finally, they reached the Fat Lady, who frowned disapprovingly. However disapprovingly an intoxicated portrait could appear, that is.

Melanie removed the invisibility cloak and set down the other girl's bag against the wall. "Well, James, I guess this is good night. Should I give you a kiss?" She sighed and pouted sickeningly.

"Sure, Mel. I'll see you in my dormitory." He winked suggestively.

"Control thy hormones," Lily commanded, exasperated. The other two turned toward her in bewilderment.

"What the hell does that mean?"

"Just a quote from an educated friend," was her only answer. The _educated friend_ was actually Sirius, but James didn't have to know that. Next to him, Melanie smirked in a strangely familiar manner.

Then something happened that would never let Lily view Sirius Black or Melanie Weyn in the same way again.

Melanie quickly checked her watch (antique, Lily noted critically), and said, "Oh, it's time, Prongs," and started giggling. The giggle started out high and girly, but rapidly started to become strangely...

Masculine.

Melanie Weyn's silky hair began shooting back into her skull, darkening as it did so, into a lustrous black. Her small physique grew in height and into a more sturdy build, and her eyes began turning from a sky blue to a more stormy grey. The obnoxious expression she held gradually shaped into more familiar, arrogant features.

"Sirius!" Lily gasped. She clutched her heart, feeling color spreading to the roots of her hair. Not only had she thought Sirius Black was a girl, she'd gotten jealous of her. Him. _What a bloody night_.

"Oh, _James_, I think Lily's figured out our little scheme," former Melanie said in a falsetto. He flipped his hair and smiled in a very smug way; he then let out a giggle (that _really_ shouldn't have come out of his mouth.)

"You!" The enraged girl smacked his face, leaving a distinct red mark. "You scared me half to death!"

James chortled, until she turned onto him. "And you! You knew and you didn't say a thing!"

"Well, you didn't exactly _ask_ – "

With a snarl, she slapped him as well. "Don't look so arrogant, Potter. When I tell McGonagall, she'll give you so many detentions, you'll never get out of Hogwarts!"

He endeavored to secure an apologetic look on his face, but mirth was visibly winning over. "Sorry, Evans, but Sirius just wanted have a look inside the girl's loo after his snog with Weyn, and we had extra time left, so – "

Lily moved to smack his face again, but something froze her in her tracks.

"Oy, at least we don't talk in our sleep!" Sirius tried to defend himself. By, as only Sirius Black would, using offense as his defense. He wasn't exactly the most tactful person at Hogwarts.

"What?" Lily asked, slowly turning towards him, hand still poised. Not expecting such a sudden reaction, he faltered.

"Nothing, Evans," he said – in an almost careless way. The barely noticeable crack in the last syllable betrayed his fear.

Before either boys could react, the red-haired girl whipped a hand into her robes and aimed a wand toward him, all intentions of hurting James forgotten. In the ordinary state of affairs, Sirius wouldn't have minded a wand pointed at him. Hell, he didn't care if his mother was ready to attack him. But this was Lily Evans, curse-casting extraordinaire – after James and himself, of course.

Suddenly under the influence of what he was _supposed_ to do, he recoiled. In the next second, he was hanging upside down as though suspended by a rope.

James looked at Lily in awe. This was why he would follow her to the ends of the earth, he thought.

"Tell me," ordered the Head Girl. "What did I say in my sleep?"

"Mate, help me!" he called to James. "This possessed witch is trying to see into my trousers!"

"Sorry, Padfoot," his friend said ruefully. "This is something I can't miss."

"Both of you, _shut up_," snapped Lily. "I want to know something. _What did I say in my sleep?_"

"Nothing really," mumbled the hovering teenage boy, although it was obvious he was holding in a snicker. "You just puckered your mouth a lot and said 'James' a few times – "

An alarming sound made its way out of Lily's mouth, which would have made Sirius jump had he been on the ground.

"Prongs, get me down!" the suspended boy shouted. "And get that wand away from her before she hexes us all into oblivion!"

James sprang to follow orders – definitely something Lily would have typically ogled at – and soon her wand was out of reach and the formally levitated boy was back on his feet.

"Ah, land," he sighed in relief. Then he noticed that the girl who had cast him up in the air was also glaring daggers at his best friend. "I think I'll enjoy my freedom inside..." And after a quick mutter of "Cassiopeia" to the Fat Lady, he was allowed passage into the safe common room. A little safer from Lily's wrath, at least.

Meanwhile, her almond-shaped green eyes were flashing at James and she stormed off with her arms folded. In the back of her mind, the good, obedient side of Lily wondered why the professors had not shown up after the commotion. But the angry part of her had other things to worry about. They had all dropped in their places and fallen asleep, for all _she_ cared right now.

_Girls_, James thought after he chased after her. How many times had he done this in the last seven years at Hogwarts? Too many times to count.

Quickly catching up with her, he threw an arm over his patrolling partner's shoulder, and she automatically shrugged it off. And although he expected it, the Head Boy hurt to feel that familiar burning of disappointment.

"Ev – _Lily_!" he pleaded. His tone was still imploring, but it then took on a little of its characteristic amusing edge. "You weren't _jealous_ of Sirius, were you?" He knew right after the words came out of his mouth that they were exactly the wrong thing to say.

"I couldn't care less," she replied placidly. James flinched. He could easily handle her fiery anger (he had plenty of experience), but this lack of emotion was a different story. A tactful person would have let her be to cool off (at least, that's what Remus would advise), but, like Sirius, James never really did anything tactfully. Instead, he did just the opposite. Which, in the future, Lily would come to appreciate.

He grabbed her hand and pulled her closer. His hand was big and rough from Quidditch, but it was warm, and fit perfectly into hers. James noticed she managed to relax for a millisecond, but tensed up once more and started pulling away. He made his hold even tighter.

"C'mon, you don't have to be angry!"

"I'm not."

"Yeah, you are, c'mon, Evans, it was only Sirius – "

"_Only_ Sirius? You _only_ tricked me? You – "

"Evans, we only wanted to see your reaction – "

"Oh, didn't you find it _priceless_," Lily said sarcastically. She couldn't remember, out of all the times she'd yelled at Ja_ - Potter_, that she'd felt this humiliated. Where did all of it come from? "And why do you still call me Evans? Nobody does, not even _Black_." She spat out his name. Oh, they'd definitely be on last name terms now.

James ran a hand through his hair, and the Head Girl suppressed another wave of anger. He had the nerve to act arrogant, _now_? "Well, I don't know, Evans."

She huffed, and walked a bit faster.

James sighed, and ran after her again. "C'mon, if I tell you, will you forgive me?"

"No."

He ignored her pointed reply, and spun her around to face him. Lily tried to wriggle out of his hold, but years of Quidditch had done its job.

"Please, Evans?" He tried to stare into her beautiful green eyes, enjoying their close proximity. She looked defiantly at anything but him, feeling her face heat up. Strangely, she didn't feel very uncomfortable as she would have imagined. It actually felt kind of nice. Lily reluctantly looked up after a few moments of silence, and instantly regretted it.

James's hair was even more untidy than usual, and the worry lines she didn't know he had were showing. Behind his glasses, his hazel eyes sparkled with sincerity. Her anger melted immediately.

The black-haired boy instantly noticed her change in feeling, and his face reflected it. The lines in his face disappeared, and his eyes – impossibly – sparkled even more. Lily had a bizarre urge to move toward them even more.

"I call you Evans because I thought you liked it. Peter told me that you thought it was better than Lily, anyway." He said this matter-of-factly, like it was well-known information. To the rest of the world, it probably was.

The girl he held reeled in shock. "But that was back in second year! You still remember?"

James chuckled. "And so do you, apparently."

She spluttered. "Yes – but – I remember a lot – " Lily always felt a sense of surprise when he spoke of things like they were everyday things – namely, the way he felt about her – not as if they were unimportant, but as if they were normal. He didn't seem to care if the whole world knew he was in love.

"Mm, so you must remember _a lot_ about me. Good thing, too," He winked, and she blushed. Her control of the color on her face was starting to diminish. No, scratch that, it already _had _diminished.

At least around James.

To hide it, she tried to continue walking in a relaxed manner, but she felt as if her footsteps echoed too loudly.

"So what other stupid things did you do that you _thought_ I liked?" She asked conversationally, although she was burning with curiosity inside.

He didn't seem to mind the question. "Oh, you know, things like leaving those magically enhanced roses that danced and sang when you came within a five-foot radius of them – "

Admittedly, Lily laughed. She didn't bother to add the fact that she'd found them insufferable when she'd first seen them – or gone _near_ them.

Filled to the brim with confidence with her laugh, James surreptitiously reached for his wand, formed the freshest, most crimson roses he could and quickly cast the special charm incantation nonverbally behind his back. He'd had practice from last time. His talent wasn't exactly an obstacle either.

"For you," he said with a lovable grin. The flowers promptly began to bloom, dance, and sing a romantic, if not corny, ballad. The special girl he offered them to was fruitlessly trying not to look pleased.

James placed his arm over Lily's shoulders again. He expected that infinitesimal break in his heart to come back again, but it never did. He slackened, not realizing the slight tautness that had developed every time he attempted to flirt with her.

Bombarded with memories including those of her former self ranting and tearing apart the roses, but touched by his sweet gesture, Lily looked up at James, and smiled. He felt something move inside him and wondered if she could hear his heart almost thumping out of his chest. It was a simple gesture, and nearly anyone at Hogwarts would have thought of it as an everyday occurrence.

But to James, her small, sincere smile was worth more than the world.

* * *

Yes, I know, quick ending. Haha.

I don't own anything!

And reviews would be loveelly. (:


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